Overpopulation: In her new book, an artificial intelligence specialist announces that “virtual children will become an accepted and fully accepted element in much of the developed world”

They will cuddle you, play with you and, of course, look like you. They will only require minimal resources and cost next to nothing to raise.
If this sounds like the ideal child to you, be warned: what has just been described is a virtual child. According to an artificial intelligence expert, these digital babies housed in virtual universes [metaverse-hosted digital babies] will be commonplace in 50 years.
Catriona Campbell, one of the UK’s leading authorities on artificial intelligence and emerging and disruptive technologies, made the prediction in a book published this week.
In AI by Design: A Plan For Living With Artificial Intelligence, Ms. Campbell argues that concerns about overpopulation will cause society to embrace digital children. It’s a demographic transformation that she dubbed the “Tamagotchi generation”.
“Virtual children may seem like a giant leap from where we are today,” she writes, “but 50 years from now, technology will have advanced so much that the babies that exist in the metaverse will be indistinguishable from those in the real world.
“As the metaverse evolves, I see virtual children becoming an accepted and fully embraced part of society in much of the developed world.”

The metaverse is an immersive digital world. It is considered the future of the internet and will be more physically interactive. Ms Campbell suggests high-tech gloves capable of providing tactile feedback could replicate the physical sensations of cuddling, feeding and playing with her offspring.

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The Telegraph (easily accessible via an archive)